Alcohol withdrawal syndrome, or the sudden cessation of heavy drinking among people with alcohol use disorder, is associated with higher risks of surgical complications, according to surgeons at the Ohio State University in Columbus.
The condition is also linked to longer hospital stays and higher healthcare costs. When adjusting for the cost per surgical patient, the excess costs exceed $165 million, according to new research.
Using a national sample of 3 million adult surgical patients between 2016 and 2019, OSU surgeons evaluated outcomes including in-hospital mortality, complications, length of stay, discharge disposition and hospitalization costs.
Across those patients, 16,504 (0.5%) were diagnosed with alcohol withdrawal syndrome, including 6,591 (0.2%) who had delirium tremens — a severe form of withdrawal.
The study, which was published July 22 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, found an association between alcohol withdrawal syndrome and a higher risk of postoperative complications, particularly respiratory failure.
Patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome also had an average hospital stay of 11 days — five days longer than the control group — and a median hospitalization cost of $44,300, compared to $28,800 for patients without the condition.
Timothy Pawlik, MD, chair of the department of surgery at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and first author of the study, said the lack of standard screening protocols contributes to delays in treatment.
“Developing strategies for early identification, inpatient withdrawal management, and perioperative risk stratification may improve surgical outcomes, lower healthcare costs, and enhance patient care,” Dr. Pawlik said in a statement.
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